Dear Maria, Count Me Out
by CatchingForRain
Summary: University. The place where people go to learn, to grow into who they're meant to be. Or, in the case of Zack, Rian, Jack & Alex, the place to try and keep the sanity levels just south of too much. Harder than it sounds. ATL fanfic.
1. Down For The Count

**A/N: le introduction: This is an All Time Low fic mainly, however some other bands will quite occasionally pop up, because a supporting cast is always quite lovely to have in a story.**

**This will be more than a oneshot, but my other fic, Learning To Fly, will take priority over this. So, I'm sorry in advance for any stupidly long updates or short chapters.**

**I'm also going to try and write a small playlist for what I was listening to while I wrote the chapter. JUST BECAUSE I CAN. MWHEHEHE.**

**Fear the wrath of the first chapter~**

**DISCLAIMER: ME NO OWN NOTHING. EXCEPT FOR MYSELF. AND KIRSTEN, LAURA, ANNABEL AND BECCA. Wait. What.**

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><p>"Jack, move your ass before I move it for you."<p>

"Is that a threat, Gaskarth?"

"It is if you want it to be..."

"Ew. Guys. Save it for the bedroom."

Jack and Alex grinned at each other, before glancing across the room towards the small kitchenette where their dorm mate, Zack, was standing with his arms resting on the counters, smiling at his friends.

"Where's Rian?" Alex asked, sliding onto the arm of the battered up couch that was placed in the corner of the spacious lounge area. Jack sat down next to the armrest, and was quickly sat on by his boyfriend.

Zack rolled his eyes at his friends but his smile turned slightly sour as he spoke. "He's out trying to get information on our new assignment."

"Yay. New assignment." Jack deadpanned, looking completely unenthusiastic.

Zack glanced downwards, and sighed. "You know the situation guys... Don't take it out on him..."

Alex grumbled and slid off Jack's lap, landing roughly on the middle seat of the sofa. He pulled his knees up to his chest and placed his chin on his arms. "I wish we didn't have to do all of this. It... It sucks!"

Jack chewed his lip, looking thoughtful. "Well, I guess the best we can do is just try and do everything that 'she' wants us to do." Jack said the word 'she' as if it was a curse, almost spitting the word out.

Zack glanced at Jack. "You got it there, my name rhyming amigo." He stood, stretched and walked towards one of the cupboards and glancing inside. For a few seconds he stared at the contents before shutting it and heading towards the fridge. When he reached the fridge, he started quickly grabbing a few different things from inside. He then busied himself by making a grilled cheese sandwich for himself. "Besides, with any luck, we'll be told to look out for someone who we barely know. I don't think she'd be too mean on us..."

Jack and Alex both snorted in unison.

Zack shot them both a reproachful look. "Now, keep those thoughts to yourselves. You know Rian puts enough stress on himself already."

Alex smiled wryly to himself, while he turned on the television and started flicking through several channels. "You know we won't mention it. We gotta stick together, right?"

Jack ignored his boyfriend and decided to try and change the subject too. "Yo, Zack... You know you love me?" Zack raised an eyebrow. "How about one of those gorgeous grilled cheese sandwiches of yours, hm?"

Zack snorted and instead placed his own sandwich in the grill, returning the ingredients to their original homes.

Alex elbowed Jack. "Hey! Listen to me, you ass!"

Jack yelped. "Ouch! I was listening! I was just hungry, too..."

"See, most guys think with their penis; you just think with your stomach."

"I do not."

"You do so."

"Do not!"

"Do so!"

"I do not! I have a brain, and I'm extremely capable of using it!"

The two bickered between themselves for several minutes. Zack watched them with expression stuck between horror, exasperation, and amusement. After a few seconds of watching, he took his sandwich out of the grill and started nibbling at the edges.

The door opened.

Zack glanced over and heaved an overly-dramatic sigh of relief through a full mouth. "Rian! You've saved me from the impeding mass argument!"

Rian shook of his coat, which was covered in rainwater, and hung it up on the coat rack. He made his way into the living room and fell heavily onto the sofa. He avoided eye contact, and instead just looked absent-mindedly ahead. As if he wasn't really there.

His three dorm mates stared at him.

"Helloooo, Earth to Rian?" Zack cooed, moving out of the kitchenette area to wave a hand in front of Rian's face. He took a bite out of the cheese sandwich he was holding in the other hand.

"It's Mikey." Rian finally said. And he said it fast, as if he didn't want to say it.  
>There was a silence. And a rather dramatic one at that. Alex, Jack and Zack's brains were working overtime trying to compute the new information that had just been dumped on them.<p>

"What." Jack said eventually, breaking the silence.

"Our new assignment," Rian said slowly, biting his lip between words, "is Mikey Way."

"You're kidding." Alex said, taking a step back, eyes wide as he swept a hand through his hair. He was panicking. He wasn't accepting the news and instead was point blank refusing to take it in.

Rian glanced up at his friends. The look in his eyes told them he wasn't kidding.

"Shit." Alex said and dropped to the floor, crossing his legs and staring rather blankly at a wall.

"This is so unfair!" Jack burst out. "She knows we're friends with Mikey. We can't betray him. We just can't!"

Rian glowered at the floor. "But our other option is...?"

"Being kicked out of campus. Yeah, we know." Zack mumbled.

"What're we gonna do?" Alex asked quietly.

"What we also do. Except this time, it's more than nothing personal." Rian growled, glaring a metaphorical hole in the carpet.

Alex shook his head, and leaned forward, trying to catch Rian's eye. "Hey, we don't blame you for this. We're all in this together, right?"

Jack snorted. "High School Musical references aside, we really are all stuck together in this one. There's no point in playing the blame game. So don't blame yourself, okay?" Jack grabbed Rian's shoulder, in a display of manly affection.

Zack yawned loudly, "Besides, it's too late for arguments. I've got early classes tomorrow and I'd like to get some sleep before other people decide to have a pillow fight." He glanced pointedly at the other three dormitory residents, causing Rian to look up and smile slightly. "Don't worry about it, we'll be fine." He stretched one final time, before disappearing down the corridor, waving a hand as he left the room.

As soon as Zack left the room, Alex leapt up, making a beeline for the kitchenette area. "Does anyone want a drink...?" He asked, before trailing off when he noticed the state of the grill and surrounding area. "Uh, Zack, Why can't you clean up after yourself?"

Rian leaned back on the sofa, and grabbed the remote. "I'll have some juice, please" He started flicking through the channels, unintentionally copying Alex's earlier pose.

Jack looked at Rian for a few more seconds, before standing up and yawning loudly. "None for me, I've got to catch some sleep. I've got early classes too." He pulled a face. "I'll catch you both tomorrow. Oh, I got Scott Pilgrim back from Patrick if you want to watch that." He waved vaguely at the coffee table, before skipping slightly towards the kitchenette, pecking Alex on the cheek, and heading back towards the door. He waved a hand as he left. Both Rian and Alex watched him go, a mixture of expressions on their faces.

For a few seconds there was silence, and the Alex walked over to Rian and handed him his juice. "We only had grapefruit left. Blame Zack, he drink far too much orange juice. I'm surprised he hasn't turned orange yet." Alex told him with a smirk, before returning to the kitchen to grab his mug of hot chocolate. For a second there was a slightly awkward pause, a re-run of Scrubs ran on the TV, and both Alex and Rian watched it blankly, sipping their drinks.

"When are you going to tell Jack? Or are we just going to stay like this forever?" Rian suddenly asked, avoiding making eye contact with Alex.

Alex choked on his hot chocolate, and quickly slammed his mug down before he ended up spilling it down his front and, inevitably, his crotch. Rian leapt to his aid, placing his finished drink on the side before patting Alex's back in a rather feeble attempt to help.

"Hey, no, don't take it that way! I'm not annoyed with you..." Rian attempted to correct his sudden outburst, trying to stop Alex from choking.

Alex waved him off, leaned against the side, coughed a few more times, and then turned to face his friend. "Rian, please. Don't dump this on me now..." He looked rather sorrowfully at his now empty mug. "Especially not now, just after we've found out we've got to dish the dirt on Mikey. Please, can we just leave it for now?" He looked hopefully at Rian, the first time he'd made proper eye contact with him since he'd first arrived home.

Rian blinked back at Alex, and carefully, without breaking eye contact, took both Alex's hands in his. "I'll wait Alex, but if you don't tell him soon..." He leaned closer to Alex. "I don't know if I can wait that long."

Alex blinked at him, before leaning his head against Rian's chest, close enough to hear his steady heartbeat. "Don't..." He paused, to sigh deeply and move closer into Rian's arms. "Don't do anything, I'll tell him. Just not now." He then kissed Rian, softly and quickly, before backing up.

"I'll... I'll see you in the morning, Ri." Alex smiled cutely, before following in both his dorm-mates footsteps, and heading for his bedroom.

Rian watched him leave with a disappointed look on his face. Maybe, sometime in the future, things wouldn't be as messed up as they were right now.

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><p><strong>AN: YES. IT'S TERRIBLY SHORT. I'M SO SORRY D;**

**Anyway, if you can find any song references in there, point them out and you get a sparkly bass guitar. Which may have been Mikey's. Or it may not have. *shifty eyes***

**Playlist for this chapter:**

_**Last Summer –Lostprophets.**_

_**About A Girl – The Academy Is...**_

_**Ambition Is Critical – The Blackout**_

_**Break Your Little Heart – All Time Low.**_

**So, whattya think? Please, leave me your lovely comments/reviews/brainless ramblings.**

**THANK YE FOR READING. ARR.**

**(Also, I'm really sorry for being mean and not explaining. All we become clear soon~) **


	2. Time Bomb

**A/N: Helloooo readers! It's been exactly 60 days since this fic was alst updated, so I thought it was due an update :3**

**I've also just finished all my tests/assesments and whatnot at school so I sat down the other day and typed like a mad lady until I had a sufficient amount of work done on this chapter xD Yes, I know it's quite a short chapter, but I think this whole story is going to be small bursts of (hopefully) drama and sort-of action and Rian getting nekkid.**

***disclaimer: that last point was not exactly true***

**Anywho, enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Zack and Jack stood huddled closely together underneath the small cover the bus stop provided. Heavy rain lashed down on the plastic covering and dripped down onto the two's shoulders.<p>

"My hair's getting wet." Jack whined, patting his hair with his hands and attempting to cover it with his study books.

Zack stared at him sceptically, absently wondering how much hairspray Jack and Alex managed to use in a week. At least triple what he used. At _least._

"Tell me again why we're taking the bus instead of walking for five minutes?" Zack asked.

Jack placed his head underneath Zack's chin in an attempt to get further away from the raindrops. "Because," his reply was muffled as he spoke into Zack's jumper "I don't like the rain, or mornings. And it's cold. And I want some coffee. And Alex wasn't awake this morning for-"

"Whoa! Stop there."

"I was going to say he didn't make me any morning toast."

"He makes you morning toast?" Zack scoffed.

He felt Jack grin. "Hell yeah. And sometimes morning sex."

Zack groaned while Jack pulled back so he could laugh at his friends' expression. "Didn't need to know that, bro, too far." Zack exclaimed.

Jack leaned back into Zack's shoulder before stepping back. "Bus is here!"

Zack raised an eyebrow at Jack's over excitedness and held him back so he didn't run into the road. He felt like he was looking after some kind of five year old. The bus pulled into the lay-by, and the two clambered on.

"Jack, how did you get into university?" Zack asked jokingly, handing over the money for his ticket to the bus driver. He took a seat halfway to the back of the bus, and was quickly joined by Jack.

"Just because I act immature, doesn't mean I am." Jack told him bluntly.

Zack was taken aback by Jack's sudden change of demeanour, and remained silent for the rest of the bus journey.

The bus trip dragged out, Zack stared morosely out of the window, trying to figure out if he should apologize to Jack, or just leave it and see what happened.

As it turned out, Zack didn't have to wait too long.

The bus pulled to a juddery halt, a testament to how old it was, and Jack leapt up. "C'mon, Zacky, time to learn!"

Zack blinked, once again shocked by how quick Jack's mood had changed. He didn't have time to mull it over however, as Jack grabbed his hand a pulled him down the bus towards the door.

We fell awkwardly out of the bus, and where still laughing when a girl with dark hair and too much make up stepped into our path.

"Oh, shit." I stepped in front of Jack, firstly as instinct, and secondly as straight away he was growling. I'm pretty sure he would have leapt at her if I hadn't of done anything.

"I thought people like him were meant to be nicer?" The overly done up girl said, motioning towards Jack but not actually looking at him directly.

I had to seriously resist the urge to punch her.

Behind me Jack was grumbling every swear word under the sun as he gripped my t-shirt. "Zack, can we go, please?"

"Maria, what the hell do you want? Rian's already told us what you want us to do..."

Maria, the cause of world poverty, hunger and famine (at least, I wouldn't be surprised if she was), shifted her weight and flicked her hair. "Aw, Zacky, can't I just come and say hi to you?" There she went, completely ignoring Jack again.

"If you haven't got anything else to say, _Jack_ and I are leaving." I said, pronouncing Jack's name clearly, hoping that she'd get the hint.

I hated it when she was like this. Maria used to be nice, long time ago, when Rian and her were dating. That was before she turned all scary psycho bitch and decided to make Alex and Jack's- consequently Rian and mine's- lives utter hell.

And you thought Ramona Flowers had some bad exes.

Maria raised an annoyingly perfect eyebrow and inspected her, also far too perfect, nails. "Just to say I need the information you gather within the week, it's really rather important." She blinked up at me through fake nails. I once again resisted the urge to punch her.

Jack gasped, and shoved me aside before I had time to react. "You _bitch_!" He practically screamed, causing everyone on the plaza to glance towards us.

Maria glanced at him, blinked once, before turning her patronising gaze back to me. "By the end of the week, Zacky boy."

Jack went to leap after her as she turned and walked away, but I grabbed his shirt, and yanked him backwards.

"She isn't even close to worth it." I told him as calmly as I could, not really trusting myself and not wanting to follow my own advice at all. I was so tempted to just chase after her and say every single word I'd ever thought about her when she'd been acting like a class A bitch.

Jack whined and struggled feebly, but I could tell the fight had gone out of him. "It's not fair, Zack!" He cried, flinging his arms out and dropping himself to sit on a nearby wall. He pulled his knees up to his chin, and hid behind his fringe.

I knew that pose, and I knew that tone of voice. This wasn't what he did when he got a bad score in one of his midterm tests; oh no, this is what he did when he and Alex had gotten into some massive argument and didn't talk for a week. "Jack..?" I asked cautiously, not sure what to do, Rian was the one who normally dealt with someone when they were upset. He just knew what to say...

Jack said nothing, just picked furiously at the sleeve of his hoodie.

I checked the time; we were due into our class in the next five minutes. "Jack, bro, we gotta go to lessons."

"I don't want to do it anymore." He muttered scathingly.

"You- what?" I asked, completely misinterpreting what he was saying. "You don't want to do class anymore?"

He blinked up at me. "No, the stuff that... She tells us to do. It's Mikey, for God's sake!" He was standing up now, his eyes were wild and he was pacing.

The plaza was now nearly empty, most other early students having already left for their lessons. Jack was still pacing, and anyone could have said that he was on the edge of some kind of mental breakdown.

I took a drastic measure, and hugged him.

It was awkward for a heartbeat, before he was hugging me back and leaning on my shoulder. Jack was shaking, and I rubbed his back in what I hoped was a comforting way.

"Hey, its okay, we'll pull through." I said soothingly, not really believing any of those words. "We'll talk about it tonight, I mean; things can't go the way they were. We are not doing this to Mikey."

Jack hiccoughed, and constricted his hold around me, before letting go. "What've we got first?" He asked, some of his original spark returning, although his eyes remained largely downcast.

"A lecture, dunno what on, didn't check the memo yesterday." I said, trying to keep the conversation from returning to dangerous territory. I started walking towards the lecture, and Jack trailed behind.

I made a mental note to ring Rian and inform him of Maria's sudden appearance. This week was looking to be like a complete downer.

The lecture passed swiftly, I'm not too sure as to what the subject was, as I spent most of my time playing Pokémon with Jack underneath the tables. We filed out quickly, and just as we were questioning the location of our next lessons, my phone rang.

It was Rian; probably ringing to ask where I was so we could meet up for our next lesson. I held up a finger to Jack, who nodded and continued to scan the noticeboard.

"Yo." I answered, holding my phone to me ear with my shoulder.

"Zack, you don't sound cool when you do that." Rian replied as a greeting.

"Nice to hear from you too. Have a good morning? Were birds singing when you woke?" I replied sarcastically.

"Zaaack." Rian whined.

"Okay, sorry. Our next class is..." I juggled my bag and notebook around, until I found my sketched out timetable for the week. "We've got a practical test in lab 4."

There was a pause on the other end of the line as Rian jotted down his lesson. "Alex's already left for his class cause he's all organised and totally knows what he has now."

I laughed at that, as we all knew Alex would just pester the student centre until they told him what his class was.

"Anything else?" Rian asked.

I glanced at Jack, who was now preoccupied with checking out the upcoming gig slots.

"I need to talk to you later about stuff."

I heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line. "And what stuff would this be?" Rian said carefully.

"Let's just say, I think it's about time we did something about Maria." I said with more conviction then I felt.

I just hoped my plan didn't go horribly wrong.

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><p><strong>Well, I hope you liked it. It turned out a lot more drama-ish then I expected, and I didn't actually mean for Jack to go all crazy x3<strong>

**As for the last chapter, have a playlist:**

**Semi-Mental by Biffy Clyro**

**Years - Francesqa**

**The soundtrack to Dissidia 012, because I have been playing that game far too much**

**Bat Country - Avenged Sevenfold**

**Yo, I'm done. Reviews will be treasured like kittens~**


	3. Sick Little Games

**A/N: Um. Hello ffnet. Look time no see. **

**I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. I don't really have an excuse, my only one being that I'm now in my last year of secondary school and by jove is it a lot of work to apply for colleges (my school doesn't have a sixth form, so therefore I have to leave this shithole. Strangely not that bothered), and I'm not doing Art at GCSE which is NAILS. I can't express how much time the bloody subject has just swallowed up. Sigh.**

**Anywho, enjoy the chapter, it explains quite a bit, and I hope to update some other things in the near future. **

**Toodle-pip.**

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><p><strong>Alex's POV.<strong>

I arrived home to an eerie silence, which was the first time in a very long time that I remembered our apartment being anything other than noisy. Pausing for a few seconds to try and catch a single sound, I shrugged, and toed my shoes off before sauntering into my bedroom to dump all of my school things onto my bed. Whistling an old song that I'd heard on the radio that morning, I threw my jumper on the floor and leaving my room in an artful mess.

Skipping down the corridor because no one else was home and I could get away with it without someone throwing a cushion at me, I headed towards the kitchen to put the kettle on and prepare for when the others stumbled through the door.

Just as I was returning the kettle to its stand, the doorbell rang. I paused, wondering why whoever it was hadn't just used their keys.

"One moment!" I yelled in the direction of the doorway, before turning the kettle on and heading down the corridor to the door.

I grabbed the door handle, flung the door open, and was met with Mikey.

"Mikey?" I gasped, probably far too stunned then I should have been.

He blinked back, his eyes wide through his glasses. "Um. Zack told me to come round? Did he not tell you? I can go-"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand, already understanding. "No way Mikes, it's not a problem." As if on cue the kettle whistled. "Fancy a drink?"

He smiled crookedly, and followed me down the hall as I led the way chatting amiably to fill up what had the potential to be an awkward silence. Mikey stood by the counter in the kitchen while I automatically filled four cups and quickly filling a fifth after I forgot about Mikey.

I'd just posed a question about Mikey's brother when a call from the corridor resounded throughout the house.

"Hooooneeeeeeeey, I'm hooooome." Jack called, before sprinting into the kitchen and throwing himself into my arms.

He was so lucky I wasn't carrying my cup of coffee at that moment.

I held him close, I could smell his shampoo in his hair from that morning and it smelt so good and I just wanted to hold him like this-

Jack pulled away and blinked at the coffee cups lined up on the counter. It was only then that his eyes flicked to Mikey and then widened exponentially.

"Ah, wha- Mikey." His mouth ran away, spurting words.

Noticing his confused state, I elbowed him in the ribs. "Zack told him to come round. I suppose we'll have to wait to understand why..."

Mikey shrugged, showing that he knew about as much as we did, and sipped his coffee.

Jack sighed, and leant back against my shoulder, his mouth angled perfectly close to mine so I placed a chaste on his cheek, just catching a slight taste of his lips, before fetching both our cups and leading the way towards the lounge.

We'd been there for about five minutes when Zack and Rian arrived. It was only when they walked in I realised they must have gone somewhere before hand, as neither had lessons that were close together.

"Hey, guys, what took you so long?" I asked nonchalantly, the first to speak since they'd burst in.

They glanced at each other, it was subtle, but I noticed it. Without my approval, my eyebrow raised suspiciously. Whoops. Damn eyebrows that express my emotion.

Rian noticed, as he had the annoying habit of doing. "Alex, we met up before hand so we could iron out what we need to say..." He trailed off and glanced at Mikey. He smiled warmly and went over to talk, inevitably leaving Zack to my scrutiny. Jack seemed to be preoccupied with the TV remote and the fact Friends was on.

After a few seconds of my best interrogation stare, Zack broke and spilled the beans. "Rian and I think we should tell Mikey."

I choked on my coffee. "What?" I hissed, keeping my voice low.

Zack rolled his eyes at my reaction. Apparently it was predictable. "Look, just-" He broke himself off with a sigh, before levelling his gaze at me. "Just go with it okay, we've got a plan."

I chewed the inside of my lip, feeling rather auspicious and none to certain with where this was going. Jack, obviously noticing my emotion whirlwind, took my hand gently, and soothingly rubbed his thumb over my fingers.

Rian cleared his throat across the room, and I avoided eye contact with him, as he stood and switched off the TV.

Jack whined next to me, and couldn't help but smile and my own predicament. How much of a jerk was I? I thought bitterly to myself, and buried my face into Jack's hair, unwilling to face the problems that were buzzing around my head like an annoying fly on a summer day.

Rian, despite just standing there looking like a bit of a dork for about a minute, finally managed to kick his voice box into gear and explain why we were having this impromptu meeting.

"So, um, we-" He glanced at Zack, who raised an eyebrow as if excusing himself from the collective. "thought that we should explain everything to Mikey."

Together the four of us glanced towards Mikey, who seemed rather unperturbed by our probably outlandish behaviour. Instead he raised an eyebrow and took a sip from his coffee, his eyes flicking between the four of us, waiting for some kind of explanation.

I wasn't going to give it, and apparently neither was Rian. There was an awkward moment as Jack and Zack glowered threateningly at each other.

Eventually Jack heaved a sigh, and pulled himself away from me so he could lean forward and talk to Mikey easier. I understood why he'd done it, but I missed his warmth and silently resented the fact that he had to be the one to talk.

Mentally I chastised myself for being such a sissy, and gloomily stared into my coffee cup as if expecting some form of prophecy to leap out at me. Absently I listened to Jack as he explained everything; about how Maria had been blackmailing us into finding out information about people, namely students on campus, just so she could use it against them to get she wanted. It was a sick little game she'd come up with, and we'd all just been blindly playing along in the hope it wouldn't come around and bite us.

And yet it had. Go figure.

When Jack had finished, there was a palpable tense feeling shooting through the air. Mikey was the first person we'd ever explained this to, and it felt absolutely great to finally know someone else who'd understand but also, what if he couldn't accept it?

What if we'd placed our trust in the wrong person?

What if-

"Why didn't you tell any of us sooner?" Mikey said in barely a whisper, his lips barely moving and his eyes downcast, before flicking up to glance at us all separately.

For a second, none of us responded. Then Zack, ever the quick thinker, responded. "We thought you'd think there was something wrong with us, I mean, I can't believe we're doing this..." He broke of absently, biting his lip.

Mikey looked steadily at us, a more set expression on his face. "C'mon guys, you think we wouldn't have helped you? Are you kidding?" He placed his cup down onto the table to his side and stood, pacing slightly as he spoke. "You could have told me, or Gerard, or Patrick, anyone! Why have you let this go on for so long?" He suddenly sprung around; his eyes alight with a rather daunting fire. "We can stop her! We can use what you know to turn it around and get her back..." He trailed off, his mind working on some plan.

I was so thrown by his 'all in my stride' attitude; I hadn't even glanced over to see how the others were taking it. I took my chance now, as Mikey's sudden outburst took a slight break. Zack's mouth was agape, his features showing so much disbelief it was almost comical. Rian had one of those stupid sly smiles on his face that made me think he'd already expected this outcome. Jack, on the other hand, seemed to be staring so intently at the carpet I had to wonder if he'd lost something.

"Jack, what are you-" I started to ask, but got cut off my Jack snapping.

"Mikey, don't you get it." He hissed, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. He stood, staring straight at Mikey, who blinked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. "Don't you think we've tried to get her to stop? Do you think we can just stop? She's threatened to hurt people purely because we won't gossip about someone!"

I flinched as his voice rose, and attempted to pull him back to sit down but he shrugged me off. I glanced helplessly at Zack and Rian, but neither of them was being helpful right now, to enraptured in the scene playing out before them.

Jack was still at it, too far gone to stop now. "What do you take us for? Idiots? Do you think we enjoy being pushed around like this, huh?" He was yelling now.

Mikey shook his head, sending Zack a pleading look.

Finally Rian acted, pushing between Mikey and Jack and shoving Jack back into me.

"Alex, sort him out." He told me, and sent me one of those looks that meant more than it should have.

Knowing what he meant, I pulled Jack out of the living room and down the corridor, ignoring his mutterings and several sounds that seemed like growls. I pushed open our bedroom door, shoved him in front of me, and leant on the door, effectively blocking his means of exit.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I hissed, when he finally looked at me. "This could be the one chance we have to get out of this ridiculous predicament and you want to mess it up? Again I ask, what is wrong with you?"

Jack glanced away, and I knew I'd hurt him, but that would have to wait. I needed to know why he'd acted the way he had.

"You don't get it." He sighed eventually, pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes and rubbing. His voice sounded tired as he spoke. "What if this all just goes wrong and we end up involving Mikey? Or the whole school suddenly finds out? Yeah, what are we gonna do then huh?"

His thought process stopped mine for a few seconds, and I followed those ideas through to what would, inevitably, be an ending I'd rather not have to bear witness to. Just the thought of it made me regret what we'd just done.

Yet...

"What else could we have done, Jack?" I asked, sliding down the door until I was sitting. "This is it." I looked up at him, and looked at me.

"This is our chance to take Maria out." I finished, the corner of my mouth twitching slightly to a smile.

Jack smirked, and nodded, apparently he'd come to the same conclusion I had. "I hope you don't mean for a date." He giggled slightly.

I pulled a face. "Ew."

Together we laughed it off, and for a while we sat amiably in silence, content to just ignore what was outside the door. After a minute Jack came and sat next to me, and I rested my head on his shoulder. I'd always admired just how perfectly I could cuddle up next to him and forget-

The door shook vehemently as someone on the outside attempted to walk into the room, only to shove the door into Jack and I's backs.

"Yo, guys, time to talk action plan!" Zack called through the door.

I sighed, and got up, heaving Jack up with me. Zack tentatively tried the door again, finding it free. His head popped around, one of the happiest smiles I'd seen in a while on his face.

"Let's do this thing!"

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><p><strong>Review's are appreciated.<strong>


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